Camping and fireflies

The kids have been wanting to catch fireflies since they saw them on July 4th waiting for the fireworks to start. Sadly, that was the first time they have stayed up late enough to see them. So, Chad and I decided to let them stay up last weekend and catch some. They LOVED it. Adam and Jack used their nets to capture them, which worked really well. Maya was too freaked out to touch them, but she loved being in the middle of the action.

We let the kids keep the fireflies in a glass cup with saran wrap on top. I thought it would be fun to let them sleep with them in the tent. That lasted all of 5 minutes. Someone (no one would fess up) poked bigger holes in the saran wrap and let all the fireflies out. So once we captured the bugs again, we let them back outside.

The kids have been asking to go camping. Since it's been so hot outside we decided to go camping in our playroom. It was a lot of fun. At first they played in it, then we read books, and the boys played with Chad's ipad and iphone. Maya probably loved it the most.

Maya loved the tent so much that she kept everyone up until 11:30. That was the latest they have ever stayed up. The boys were so tired and wanted to sleep, but Maya was still wanting to party. Sadly, she got in trouble and had to sleep in her bed. About 2 minutes after Maya left the tent both boys fell fast asleep.

We are planning on going on a real camping trip in the middle of September. We are going to a state park about an hour away. We rented a cabin, but plan to put up a tent and attempt to sleep in it...we'll see. This park has bike trails, hiking, a shallow river you can float down. It also has a pool, but that will be closed by the time we are there. This is sort of a trial trip. We will go next summer for a few days if all goes well.

Summer time

This summer seems to be going quite fast. I just realized the other day that I have not taken any pool pictures this season (stay tuned). The boys have been busy with swim lesson at the New Albany High School and YMCA 3 days a week. They also participated in Vacation Bible School with our neighbors....which they LOVED. Mostly we are spending our days at the pool and playing in our blow up pool outside.

Here is a picture of the kids digging in our sandbox for rolly polly bugs. Our sandbox was full of them...not sure if that's good or bad they are in there...

I love this picture. One morning both the boys woke and crawled in bed with us. They continued to sleep until almost 9 am....which is unheard of for my kids. This happened to be a morning after VBS.

Grandma and Grandpa Moorefield's visit

We had a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa when they can to visit a few weeks ago. We didn't have too much planned except getting the boys' birthday party together...which was a ton of work. Grandma took the majority of the pictures...as usual...thanks Nancy.

in no particular order, here are some things we did during their visit...

gave gma some love...

...some more love...

...and more love

walked neighborhood garage sale...(yes, gma takes pictures of everything)

The men pondered life...

threw the football

had a "picnic" dinner watching a movie

bugged gpa....a favorite

popped wheelies....great pic, gma

took a bike ride

walked Lola

laughed

flew kites

threw the frisbee

hit balls

threw major fits and passed out behind the chair

ate lots of good food

did lots of playing outside

Can't wait for next visit

Slacker

Dear family and friends,

I'm so sorry I have been a blog slacker. I will make a huge effort to post more about our days and what's going on. We've had a great summer so far and it seems to be going too fast...

I will post pictures of grandma and grandpa Moorefield's visit soon (...have I said that before?...) and other fun summer pictures. But for now, I'm off to take the boys to swim lessons then I have a date with Adam...we're going to the zoo...just the two of us.

Birthday pictures

birthday pictures to come...

The boys had a great birthday. I'll post pictures of the party and our visit with Grandma and Grandpa Moorefield soon....hopefully tomorrow or this weekend...

Yard projects and dirty kids

This year I decided to jazz up our patio. Since replacing the brick patio is not an option, I decided to buy a big outdoor rug. What a difference it makes. I added a couple of pillows and a red lantern. My favorite is our new American flag.

Chad installed new brick pavers to make a decorative wall for the front flower beds. It was a TON of work for him, but looks great. I planted the flowers and added mulch.

We are already lighting up some fireworks. You know, the safe ones for kids like snakes and Pop-its.

Tis the season of dirty kids. The dirtier they are the more fun we had. I love the smell of sweaty kids with a hint of sunscreen and pool chlorine. I'll post pool pictures soon.

What we've been up to...

The boys had their last day of preschool a few weeks ago. Their school always ends early, so they have been in summer camp the last two weeks. They had a great year and are looking forward to another year in preschool. They boys will be in different classes next year. Adam is especially excited about this. I will have all 3 kids in 3 different classes...seems like it might be a little crazy at first.

As for Lola, she is doing very well. About 3 weeks ago she ran outside and slipped on the wet patio. I rushed her to MedVet and found she had ruptured a vertebrae. She has since had surgery and had her sutures removed. She can now stand and "walk" on her own. I still need to assist her with the harness we have. She seems like her happy self, begging for food and wanting to hunt for chipmunks.

Spring soccer has ended. Jack didn't like soccer at all and cried every time he had to play, so we let him quit. Since Jack was no longer on the team, Adam has been LOVING soccer. Adam loves to be on the field and be on a team, but he doesn't like to get too close to the ball. I think he kicked the ball once the whole season. I'm just so happy he likes it.

The boys have been taking swim lessons. Jack LOVES to swim. He could stay in the pool all day. We've been going to the YMCA pool a lot lately and I'm thinking Jack will be able to swim without his floaty thing soon. Adam hates swim lessons. I told him he could quit once he learned to swim. Adam will hold on the side of the pool with a death grip thinking he's going to drowned. I'm hoping his confidence will develop soon.

Maya has been loving the summer. She loves to wear her swimsuit everywhere. She likes going to the pool but will only sit on the steps. She doesn't like to be in the water, which makes it a bit easier for me. Maya still refuses to take naps. I try everyday and sometime can get her to sleep in her bed. Other times she passes out in the most random places.

Papa John!

Papa John drove up to visit us a couple of weeks ago. Since Chad was out of the country for a week, my dad came to help with the kids and visit. We had a great time...and a crazy time. The second day my dad was here, Lola (our dog), ruptured a vertebrae. I'll post more about that later...I just wanted to make sure I got this cute picture of my dad with the kids.